Poster Design

After Choosing the image we would use as our poster, using photoshop, I began to edit the brightness, colour and contrast of the photo to ensure it could be easily seen as the photo was taken in a dark location:

I then inserted the title/logo of our film into the top of the image, and added a Vignette to the title to make it blend in more with the poster:

I then added the details of the film, including the release date, tag line, who was involved in it and production crew. I used the same font on the tag line that was used in the screen caps in the trailer to ensure consistency. I also used a compact font for the production and crew details to be able to fit in all the information without taking up all of the poster:

Finally, using 'GreatPhotoPro', I edited the colour and brightness and applied various different colour effects to the poster to make all the text, logos and images 'blend' in more. This will make all the elements of the poster appear as a whole. The final result in seen below:

1) In what ways does your media product use, develop or challenge forms and conventions of real media products

To produce our media products (teaser trailer, poster and website), we had to consider the codes and conventions of the horror genre. We deconstructed a number of trailers, posters and websites to identify these codes and conventions and hence either follow and/or challenge them in our product.

TEASER TRAILER

For our trailer, our location used forms and conventions from similar trailers of the same genre such as Chernobyl Diaries and Grave Encounters. When researching these films, we found out that both of these films had groups exploring around derelict/abandoned buildings which are haunted or contaminated. After some extensive location scouting, we decided on using the Klinger Factory in Sidcup which has been a derelict building for a number of years. 

The mood and atmosphere within the factory (derelict, has an eerie and austere presence) allowed the audience to identify that the genre for our film was horror. We felt as though it followed the convention of genre because it was a large, vast environment which gave the characters more areas to explore and more places for the exploring to go wrong.

Another important convention of horror is the use of sound in the trailer. When deconstructing sound in horror trailers such as Paranormal Activity 4 and Chernobyl Diaries, we found that throughout both trailers, a mix of diegetic sound and sound effects were used to make the horror trailer seem realistic and relatable yet make the audience uncomfortable at certain points in the trailer. We applied this research to our trailer where we used diegetic sound such as voiceovers but used a number of sound effects such as screams and booms using synthesisers and compressors on logic to emphasis certain scenes in our trailer.

We also used a number of narrative theories to relate to our teaser trailer. We challenged Todorov’s Theory of starting and ending in equilibrium and subverting his theory with our trailer beginning in equilibrium and ending in disequilibrium. When researching trailers such as Hill Have Eyes and Session 9 we found out that a convention of horror is to end suddenly in disequilibrium to give the audience a shock. We also looked at Syd Field’s three act plot structure. Due to our coursework being a teaser trailer, we only used two of the three acts (setup and confrontation) and not the third (resolution) to not give away too much of plot to the audience. This is similar with Freytag’s dramatic structure where he divides his act in five parts: exposition, rising action, climax, falling action and resolution. Our trailer did not reach a resolution and concentrated more on the first four parts instead with the exposition of the Klinger factory, the rising action throughout the film of the exploration of the factory, the falling action of a scene of silence with one of the characters being terrified and the climax with the fast paced shots of the characters towards the end of the trailer.

POSTER

When researching for our poster, we saw in posters such as Quarantine and Children Of Men that there was only one victim on the poster and so we followed this convention in our poster where there is only a victim in a cold dark basement. We then see a light shown on the victim to show the contrasts between good and evil (binary opposition) which is a convention in horror. 





We also used a big and bold typography for our poster. We researched other films such as Orphan and Amityville Horror, they both used classic or clinical colours of their genre and then had a twist on their typeface to relate to the plot of the film. 

We then found different typefaces such as "Masterplan" and "Scorched Earth" that would be suitable for our trailer, poster and website and agreed on "Seedy Motel" because the erosion of the font looked similar to the abandoned factory and the stripes that run across the letters also reminded us of the blinds and the symbolisation of being trapped in the factory.

However, the colours used for our typography and poster subverted the normal conventional colours and even modern clinical colours used in horror films. We used a rusty brown to show the erosion in our typeface and a mix of brown and black in the poster to relate to our location in our trailer.  

We also researched a number of taglines when trying to create our own. In the posters we researched, we found that the tagline was all in one line and not separated around the poster. Here, we decided to subvert this where the first part of our tagline "They thought they were alone..." is above the victim and the second part "they weren't." is in the middle towards the right-hand side. This would then make the audience look longer than half a second at the poster (the normal time for someone looking at a film poster in general).

WEBSITE

For our website, we decided to challenge the normal conventions of a website and use our time lapse as a moving background instead of a plain background or picture because it showed the factory in all its entirety and again related it back to the teaser trailer. We also decided to challenge the conventions of colours used for our genre with the brown used in our typography but used clinical colours of horror such as the blue sky of the location of the factory in the time lapse and white text/links in the website. 

However, we followed other conventions of a website to make the website look like it is easily navigable and user friendly, we had the links to different pages, reviews to our film, our production companies and social networking links. We also had our trailer playing automatically on our homepage which meant the audience already had access to our trailer without them having to find it.

   

Poster Final

Final Trailer

Final Website

This is the final website promoting our film trailer.

http://pierj017303.wix.com/klinger

Website Design

As part of one of our components for our coursework, we have to create a website. Below is the design for our website.

1) Background Image 

The picture used for our website will be our time lapse. The video to the right shows the time lapse but on the website this will be shown slower than on the video. The time lapse links to one of the parts shown within the trailer.

2) Links to other pages in the website 

On the Klinger building, the links to other pages in the website will be shown. They will be in the same font and colour as shown within the trailer to show continuity throughout the trailer, poster & website.

3) Title

The title used for the website will be similar to the title shown below which was done for the trailer. The background of the typography will disappear as and only the typography itself would show. Yet this is going to be difficult as the colour scheme with the clash of colours used (blue, white and brown) so somehow we may need to change the colour of the typography to coincide with the colours in the website.

4) Trailer
Underneath the title, the trailer is shown there. We will also have a pop-up screen of the trailer automatically as the audience enter the website which will play the trailer with a "skip to website" link in the corner. Once the main website is shown, the trailer will be available to play underneath the title.

5) Reviews, social networking links and production companies
The reviews will be shown below the trailer to persuade the audience to watch the film within the cinemas. Normally if other people think the film is good then that is more likely to persuade other audiences to watch the film. At the bottom of the screen will be the social networking links (Facebook, Twitter) so the audience would be able to share the film straight away at the click of a button. Finally on the sides of the social networking links will show the production companies used for the film (the same as shown within the trailer).

Final Green Screen Product

Here is the final green screen product for our news report. The background shows the BBC news logo and the picture of the Klinger factory when the factory was open.

For the green screen, our inspiration was the BBC news reports over the years. This was the picture for our inspiration. This was a news report within the 1980s and was a simple design used for their news report. This was perfect for us due to the simple design and we were able to edit this onto photoshop before merging it with the green screen footage.

Website Comparisons

Alongside our trailer, we need to create a website that needs to be user friendly and attractive towards the audience so they may buy the film on DVD/watch it in the cinema. So here I have researched a few films that are similar to ours and compared the websites to each other to create an ideal website for our trailer.

Chernobyl Diaries

 In chernobyl diaries we see the image of the poster as the background. We see the nuclear symbol which was the symbol of the film and the trailer is placed next to this symbol. This is not the main website but the trailer plays automatically which means the audience does not need to find the trailer. Also the links to buy the DVD is right below the trailer which means that the audience can buy the DVD straight after watching the trailer if they're interested.

Here is the main website to the film where it has more images from the film with the menu of the links within the corner again linking to the nuclear scenario.

The Hills Have Eyes

Here we see the "Hills have eyes" website which first shows the trailer before going straight to the website. Again this is effective as it means the audience would automatically see the trailer without having to find it and is very user friendly. We go onto the main website which shows a different photo to the poster but still a significant picture from the film. Yet this website does not have social networking links as when the film was released (2006), social networks were not as popular as they are now.

Grave Encounters

This is the homepage to Grave Encounters. Unlike the other two websites, the trailer does not start automatically on either a start page or on the home page. Yet the link towards the trailer is found easily within the top right-hand side. The picture background used in the website is also used in the poster and so the film is more recognisable because the same image is used for both the website and the poster. The social networking links are at the top which makes it really easy to share the film within a click of a button. Also, if you click on "Available on VOD nationwide", you get a link to buy the film on DVD which again is easy for the audience as they can buy the DVD straight away. Yet this is not as user friendly as at first glance, the link does not look like a link.

Editing

For the introduction of the trailer, we have decided to show the background of the scenario (i.e. what happened during the explosion of the Klinger factory in the 1980s). We found a video of factory workers working in an oil factory in the 1980s which although wasn't exact to the Klinger factory but was perfect for the beginning as it shows workers working in a factory in the 1980s.

 In the trailer, we have decided to edit out a number of shots inside the factory to show the scenes of the factory.

We also have shots of the workers in the factory again to show the scenario what the Klinger factory was like when it was open. This did not take a while as we only needed to edit clips of the video we found from Youtube. We also used the effect of bad TV onto the clips as continuity to the clip below.

Tag Line Ideas

Tag Lines

When considering ideas for our poster, we also noted we needed to come up with a tag line that would suit our genre and specifically our niche area in that genre. Some of the ideas we brainstormed were:

Possible Taglines-
-Something Never left
-It Will Find You
-They Will Find You
-Dont Go In
-They Can Smell Your Blood
-Something Wants To Say Hello
-They Will Trap You In
-They Wont Let You Leave
-Your Time Is Up
-If Your Lucky They Will Only Kill You
-They said it was an accident, they said everyone was evacuated, they lied....
-Would you go in?
- For the toughest explorers
- You don't know what you're getting into
-Klinging on for life
-They thought it was abandoned...it wasn't.        Our chosen tagline.

All of the tag lines we came up with create an enigma. We wanted to have a tag line that creates mystery so we chose to use words such as 'they' and 'it' so the villian is not identified. Some of the taglines relate directly to our horror genre by using words such as 'trap', 'blood' and "kill".

The Basics of Typography making

Here, I look at the basics of how to use typography effectively and what type of fonts would be best for our poster/website.

Serif

This font is mostly used for body copy in print documents as well as for body text and headlines online in news articles. There are a number of sub type fonts including Times New Roman. This is the most traditional type of font and wouldn't really link well with the message/theme of our trailer.

Sans-Serif

This font is a more modern version of serif created in the 18th century and tend to appear more in magazines and in some posters. They have a much plainer appearance compared to serif. This font was used in "The Pact" in bold and spaced apart and shows that you can use a very simple font like this and still make it look effective. You also see humanist fonts within this section and are the most popular when it comes to the body of a text paragraph in websites - this is because they're more calligraphic compared to other fonts and hence look more legible to read.

Script

Scripts are based upon handwriting and are common for very elegant and elevated designs. They are unsuitable for a bulk of text and don't tend to be used in titles for posters as they are not the most legible font.

Display

Display fonts tend to have the biggest amount of fonts available and also include the most variation. The main characteristic is that they're unsuitable for a bulk of text and are best used for headlines or other short pieces of text that needs attention drawn to it. They can show any type of mood which would be great for our film. This is the type of font we will use for our poster/website as the title & font would be one of the first points that the audience would look at and hence is really important to quickly show the mood of the film within a second.

Mood
The mood of a font is an important part of how it should be used. Commonly used moods include formal vs informal, modern vs classic/traditional and light vs dramatic. Some fonts have very distinct moods e.g. Times New Roman is always going to be a traditional font; hence why it's so commonly used for business. This is compared to other fonts which can convey almost any mood based on the content & other fonts they may be combined with.

Silent House: Sound Deconstruction

• At the beginning and the end of the trailer, we hear the sound of the shutter of a camera which is used to break up the diegetic sound of the protagonist.
• We hear a number of sound effects including door slams and screams to keep the audience on edge during the trailer.
• A voiceover is used to tell about the story of what happened within the house. This is to inform the audience about the story but not give away too much. This voiceover does give away quite a bit of the plot though as the trailer is a theatrical trailer yet as our trailer is only a teaser trailer, not as much plot is needed to be shown.
• As the motion of the trailer becomes quicker; we hear a number of clock ticks breaking up the equilibrium of the film before suddenly we hear a number of clocks ticking sounding like an alarm clock. The number of clock ticks heard at the same time could resemble a nightmare occurring and suddenly it had stopped because of the "alarm". This is very easy to create & edit on a trailer as you can use the same ticking sounds but just lay each sound on top of each other to create one big alarm ticking sound.
• The trailer is constantly in disequilibrium as at one point you hear silence and then you hear sudden beats and sounds to create a cliffhanger before returning to silence again.
• We then begin to hear piano music playing which sound like a bedtime nursery rhyme which shows there could be a "light at the end of the tunnel" for the protagonist yet we realise this does not happen as once again the tone of the trailer changes.
• During the final scene we hear cries and screams from the protagonist before you hear an echo during the fade of the trailer. This is really effective as it can give a final lasting effective towards the audience. This effect is very easy to edit onto our trailer as there would already be an echo effect within the program we use to edit and then it can be edited to how big an echo we would like.

Chernobyl Diaries: Sound Deconstruction

• A big alarm goes off at the beginning of the trailer with sounds of alarms going off towards the end of the trailer. The first alarm sounds like a big panic & evacuation alarm and in the film we find out that this was a nuclear reactor. This is very relatable to our film as our plot is about an abandoned factory and can show the connotations of danger and possibly a bleak future.
• We then hear a voiceover of the description of the events that had happened during the nuclear explosion. Here, a professional voiceover speaker is speaking and to make our film sound more realistic and relatable to past events, we are using a news reporter as our voiceover to explain the background of the abandoned factory.
• Throughout the trailer, we hear constant diegetic sound from the speaker and the characters within the film.
• Sound effects used within the film includes screams (typical convention of horror films) and also the use of the shutter of the camera. This is useful in the trailer as it shows the transition between different scenes and also a sudden sound to give the audience a little shock.
• Towards the end of the trailer, we hear the beat of the music louder than before and also faster to show the change in motion of the film - this beat could possibly symbolise the tension within the group during the outing/could show how much their heartbeat is now beating from the beginning to the end. 

BBC news reports through the years

For our news reports, I wanted to see the different graphics that were used throughout the years. Yet once I started researching all these different backgrounds, I realised that using graphics is a relatively new concept used in newsrooms today. BBC news on the television did not start until 1954 and from here we look at the different backgrounds used and how it has evolved from a plain background to a big bold and informative graphic.

BBC news started in 1954, before it used to just be a newsreel and a continuity speaker. Then, many of the news stories were for "entertainment purposes" and not for serious information. Here on the left we can see one of the first live news reports where the background was of the world and with a microphone in the corner of the picture. This shows shows how plain and original news reports were when they first began. On the right we see another news report shown in the 1960s, it may of not evolved much from the 1950s but the background of this news report is of the other workers within the department and we still see this today in some BBC news reports.

In the early seventies, news reports changed to where more pictures were shown while all the news reports were described by the newsreader. We can see the background of the news report would just be of a plain colour with the logo of "BBC news" showing within the background, this was one of the first graphics used during a news report. As we plan to say the Klinger factory closed within the late 70s to early 80s, this would be the best type of news background to do for our trailer. This is quite easy as it is just one colour and then a graphic of BBC news.

In the 80s, we begin to see more graphics shown within the news report with the logo of "BBC news" embedded into the studio instead of a graphic. The studio was made up of horizontal lines which co-ordinated with the logo of BBC news then in the 80s (shown above). This also paved way for pictures shown alongside the news reporter while he was reporting his story. Before, montages of pictures were shown while the news reporter was speaking about the story. If pictures were not superimposed within the report, it would either zoom into the reporter or show the logo. This is useful if we did not want to show an image along the reporter and instead show a montage of pictures. Throughout the 80s, we see the backgrounds of news reports change in terms of colour (to see what was visually attractive) and other backgrounds (i.e. background of the newsroom) but not much change when it came to graphics used during the news report.

It wasn't until the 90s where we started to see full graphic news reports. In April 1993, we saw the start of the BBC's virtual news studio which meant the majority of the visual aspects in the news report was computer generated. Even the filming of the news report was done by a remote control from a gallery within the newsroom and this meant there was a lot of flexibility when it came to the backdrop and layout of the news report.

Today we see more of a studio compared to a fully computer generated studio. This means it has the flexibility in showing big stories on a giant graphic screen but also being able to demonstrate on this platform as well. There was also the removal of the graphic beside the newsreader to make way instead for edited news footages after the report has been said. Graphics shown within 24 hour news channels (shown in a post before) are different to these daily news bulletins as they are only giving out a summary of the days' news compared to 24 hours, 7 days a week constantly of news.    

Typography: Horror Deconstructions

The genre within our trailer is horror and so hence our typography must be related to the conventions of the genre and also link in with the message of our film. Below are examples of different typographies in different horror posters.

Orphan

The title of the film "orphan" looks like it is written in chalk and written like a child. You can relate chalk to teachers asking children to write with it in class and also the writing of the title doesn't look like a convention font, it looks written. You also see the writing of "orphan" being very jagged with part of the title being in lowercase letters and the other half  in capital letters - this could show how there is something mentally wrong with the child and we see this within the film.We see the colour white used within the poster, this could show the convention of purity and angelic. Normally this a convention of a child but the poster wants to confuse the audience and in the film end up showing that Esther subverts this stereotype. 

The Amityville Horror

In this typography, we see the colour red used within the poster - this is a classic colour used within horror films. Although this is a simple font used and is very doable, there is a very big emphasis on the Y within the title and shows it is a big symbol. We see the end of the Y is like blood dripping down the title onto the next message of "based on the true story" which shows the clash between good and evil. This typography shows that a simple font can be used but with an emphasis on one of the little things within the title can be very effective and can be one of the first things the audience sees when looking at the poster.

The Pact

In this typography we see all the letters spread apart, this is effective as it gives more of a shadow effect. Again a simple font is used but the word "PACT" is in bold. This shows how it may link towards the message of the film and also links to the picture in the poster. When doing our typography, we should always link our font to our plot but again not give away too much. The colours used in the poster is white/beige. White is a convention colour used in horror films but beige is not normally a colour you would associate with the genre of horror - this could link in with the plot of the film. 

Barricade
In this poster we see here how the typography very much links towards the story of the film and only really effective in this sort of film which means its original. The font used in the poster is written onto a window and is realistic because people do that in real life. The colours used within the film shows very clinical and modern colours of the genre of horror. This poster is a really good example of how to make your typography really look original and link towards the story of the film. Yet realistically, this typography would be quite difficult to make and as it isn't a very big aspect of our poster, we're better off using a simple font but emphasising it in a way to make it still look effective. 



The Thing
In this poster, we see the main aspect of the poster being the typography. Here we see a simple font which takes up the majority of the poster but it is also a font we would not normally see on a horror film (more for adventure). The colour used is white but what makes this typography original is that there is a picture inside the typography. This is a excellent way to show the concept of the film and also show how it makes the poster really effective. Again, it could be doable but whether or not the poster overall could look exciting enough is another question to answer, maybe we are better off sticking to a separate typography and picture.